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November 12, 2007

Gmail Mobile App and Google Apps Accounts



It's strange to see that Gmail's mobile app still doesn't work with Google Apps accounts. The only option offered by Google is for Blackberry users: "if you currently use the Gmail for mobile application on your Blackberry, you'll need to download the mobile application for Google Apps as well. These are two different applications. A red M icon will appear for Gmail and a blue M icon will appear for Mail by Google (Google Apps)."

An interesting comment from a Lifehacker post offered a way to login with a Google Apps account in Gmail's mobile application, by downloading two old versions on your mobile phone:
* Browse to gmail.com/app/v1.0.0/en/gmail-g.jar [or: http://tinyurl.com/yxnuqx] and download the version 1.0 client

* Enter your login information (your username should be your full Google Apps email address, i.e. me@mydomain.net)

* You will get an error after the client tries to pull up the inbox. Just exit out of the application.

* Now go and download v1.1.1 by browsing to: gmail.com/app/v1.1.1/L1/gmail-g.jar [or: http://tinyurl.com/2ge979]

* After it installs select 'Keep existing data' on your phone when prompted

* Now when you start up gmail it will use the saved login credentials from the previous install and work just dandy.

I couldn't make this work, but others confirmed that this trick works (for example, in some Nokia and Windows Mobile phones). The latest version of Gmail Mobile is 1.5, so the two versions mentioned above aren't very recent.

10 comments:

  1. I had posted in the other thread here that the hack/trick was working on WM5. After a couple of days, I was prompted to re-login to the GMail app - which, of course, I couldn't do, since 1.1.1 won't accept Google Apps usernames. Given all the other caveats of the GMail app - lack of attachments, lack of new mail notification, extra keystrokes to open from midlet manager - it ain't worth it.

    Gmail IMAP is a pretty ingenious alternative, but with its HTML message part display issues on WM, it has its frustrations as well.

    The amount of stuff that doesn't work on Google apps/services is occasionally astounding. Any other company would be massacred for these oversights. Google employees are blogging about how easy it is for them to code in new features for Gmail, Reader, etc., and have them accepted and deployed. Everyone talks about how Google can deploy new features whenever they want without being tied to release schedules. So why are there so many persistent feature gaps and incompatibilities?

    Sometimes I think the whole "Googleplex" image is a front, and Google is still a couple of guys in a garage somewhere.

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  2. I have a suspicion that Google have been paid off by Blackberry / RIM to kill this functionality on Google Apps accounts.

    It seems trivial to change the software to allow google apps logins, so the only possible reason for google to leave us hanging like this is for nefarious, evil, moneymaking purposes.

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  3. When Mobile Mail and Contacts API (which would give 3rd parties the possibility to develop sync) are in place I can migrate my company. But not before then. Two such small stumbling blocks...

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  4. I have been using the gmail mobile app with my domain for a few days now... using which I believe is the latest gmail app version: v1.5.0.1161 (I posted in the other thread the steps I followed and surprisingly it has worked out for me but, apparently not for other people)

    It's a great app to check your mail while on the go and search for mails saved on your 'all mail' box. I do not care about reading attachments (although up to some extent you can do it), as this is not for me the primarily use of the app. (as I said, great for checking emails while on the move and send the occasional go/no go reply)

    So far, I can log in/out, search messages, create a draft message, send it later, send mails with the 'sent from gmail mobile' (and without) string... So as far as I am concerned, the app is fully functional for google apps accounts.

    Why is it not released to the apps accounts? Only google nows. If the RIM agreement (as some are pointing out) is the cause, fair enough, but at least they should make it clear to their (paid) customers. You only have to look at the 'google apps discussion group' to see that it is one of the most requested features. In that discussion group, the moderator ('Google Apps Advisor Mark') strongly encourages everybody to keep pushing for this solution... well,... the solution is already working on my mobile, so do so for the accounts, or stop wasting our time.

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  5. Is there a possibility that the imap has been nobbled as part of the RIM agreement ( alleged ).

    I changed over to apps before realising that there is no decent way of using mail on WM5 ( now WM6 ) and regret it but its too late to move som any users back.
    IF the suggested hack fails aftera while then I can't let non techies near it.
    oh well.
    could be worse. I could have been using Livemail.
    Jay Bhayani

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  6. already available for google apps accounts. Just go to http://m.google.com/a with your mobile browser and follow the instructions!

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  7. @Anonymous:

    Inaccurate, it's only for Blackberries.

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  8. Ionu,

    It's already working on other terminals too. Just have a look at the comments people are posting at some google groups threads (ie: http://groups.google.com/group/hosted-setup/browse_thread/thread/54789af305b1b154/222dc8a52f9ce4b2?lnk=gst&q=mobile#222dc8a52f9ce4b2)

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  9. Dang, you're right. Another silent update. I didn't expect it to be another Java app, though.

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  10. This worked like a charm. Took a little while on my BB Curve (8330) but it worked once I completed the two reboots.

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